Slow Death of Slavery in Dutch New York - A Cultural, Economic, and Demographic History, 17001827

Original and deeply researched, this book provides a new interpretation of Dutch American slavery which challenges many of the traditional assumptions about slavery in New York. With an emphasis on demography and economics, Michael J. Douma shows that slavery in eighteenth-century New York was mostly rural, heavily Dutch, and generally profitable through the cultivation of wheat. Slavery in Dutch New York ultimately died a political death in the nineteenth century, while resistance from enslaved persons, and a gradual turn against slavery in society and in the courts, encouraged its destruction. This important study will reshape the historiography of slavery in the American North.

List of contents

Introduction; 1. The Size, Extent, and Nature of Dutch New York Slavery; 2. The Rural Dutch Slave-Wheat Complex; 3. The Price of Slaves in New York and New Jersey, 1700-1830; 4. Dutch-speaking Runaway Slaves in New York and New Jersey; 5. Sold South? Emancipation by the Numbers in Dutch New York; 6. Dutch Resistance to Emancipation and the Negotiations to End Slavery in New York; 7. Making Sense of the Mild Thesis and the End of Dutch New York Slavery; Appendix - Wheat prices; Appendix - Percent of Slaves NY-born.

About the author

Michael J. Douma is Associate Professor at the McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University. He is also the Director of the Georgetown Institute for the Study of Markets and Ethics. An interdisciplinary historian, his particular focuses include nineteenth-century US history, the Dutch world, and historical methods. historical philosophy and methodology.

Product details

• Authors: Michael J. Douma, Michael J. (Georgetown University Douma
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 01.09.2024
• EAN: 9781009441377
• ISBN: 978-1-0-0944137-7
• No. of pages: 270
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Regional and national histories; Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; Social sciences, law, business > Business > General, dictionaries; Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Economic History, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Slavery, HISTORY / United States / 19th Century, c 1800 to c 1900, 19th century, c 1800 to c 1899, Economic history, 18th century, c 1700 to c 1799, History of the Americas, Slavery & abolition of slavery, Northeastern & North Atlantic States, C 1700 To C 1800, Slavery and abolition of slavery, HISTORY / African American & Black, US Northeast, Relating to African American / Black American people